


Ten ways to say “I love you”

by LittleTurtle95



Series: “Lost Book of the White” Countdown Event [11]
Category: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Acts of Kindness, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, Multi, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:00:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26232307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleTurtle95/pseuds/LittleTurtle95
Summary: Lost Book of the White countdown event.Day 11: free space.1. I missed you2. Be careful3. Call me when you’re home4. I’ll come with you5. It made me think of you6. I’m here7. I saved you some8. Did you sleep enough?9. I’ll help you10. Not on my watch
Relationships: Alec Lightwood & Jace Wayland, Clary Fray & Simon Lewis, Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Jem Carstairs/Tessa Gray, Lily Chen & Alec Lightwood, Lily Chen & Raphael Santiago, Magnus Bane & Raphael Santiago, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Max Lightwood-Bane & Rafael Lightwood-Bane, Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood
Series: “Lost Book of the White” Countdown Event [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1890529
Comments: 14
Kudos: 55





	Ten ways to say “I love you”

**Author's Note:**

> This is too long for the challenge but I asked for permission since it's the last day and the last prompt 🙈 enjoy!

1.

She was reading fast, turning pages like hummingbird heartbeats, but her mind was elsewhere. Jem had been all day out to the Shadow Market, keeping on with this research on her and Will’s behalf. The words kept blurring in front of her eyes, until they didn’t make sense anymore. 

She sighed deeply and closed the book, already giving up. It was clear she wasn’t going to get anything done, at least as long as she was going to be alone.

When she heard the faint clunk of the closing front door she found herself on her feet in no time. 

“So?” she asked, holding her breath in excitement.

Jem, her Jem, bit his lips pensive and shrugged. “I think I found something, but I don’t know what yet. I think we should call for help.”

“We will, if you think it’s the most sensible thing to do,” she said, making two steps closer and lacing her arms around his neck. “But we’ll think about it later. Kiss me now, **I missed you**.”

Jem leaned down with his best soft smile that made everything in him glow. “I’ll kiss you as much as you want. I’ll kiss you forever. I’ll keep kissing you even when I’ll be gone.”

* * *

2.

Just as he was going to trick a customer into paying an indecent amount of money he didn’t actually need, Magnus’ phone rang. 

_Let it be Alec, please, let it be… what the hell are you thinking, Magnus Bane??_

He said to himself as he unlocked the screen. He and Alec had been dating for like two days and he was already head over heels. This wasn’t him.

As he saw the name on the screen he had to hold his breath.

“Sorry, I’ll have to answer that.”

_Raphael Santiago._

Raphael never called. If he was calling him it meant something was going on. Something huge.

“What happened?” he said, without missing a beat. “What have you done?”

“You’re dating a kid. A nephilim kid. A _Lightwood_ kid.”

Magnus groaned. This was the big emergency, then. “Alec is not a kid. He’s basically eighteen.”

“You’re basically an idiot,” the stern reply came immediately.

“That’s why you called me? To tell me I’m an idiot? I am at work, Raphael.”

“I called you because this is probably the last time I’ll hear from you. He’s going to be the death of you.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, you-”

“ **Be careful** ,” he said so abruptly that Magnus was left speechless for a few moments. “Not that I care, but I don’t want another High Warlock, I’d have to introduce myself to him all over again and I don’t have time for this kind of bullshit.”

“Well, thank-”

“Delete my number. Don’t call me back. Good bye.”

The call ended.

* * *

3.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for the day? It’s almost sunrise, I don’t want you to be around this late,” Alec said, their exhausting Alliance meeting just ended. “If the sun rises and you haven’t made it to the Hotel...”

“Don’t worry man, hotel DuMort is only a few blocks away. I’m fast, I’ll be fine.”

“If Magnus were there I’d ask him to portal you home, but…”

“Seriously,” she said, playing with the pink strand on her hair. “I don’t need it.”

Alec groaned. “You’re the worst.”

Lily smiled. Those words always made her smile. “See you next week, Lightwood.”

“See you next week,” he said yawning, his mind already focused on the sleeping that was waiting for him. But he wasn’t going to sleep just now. Now he had to sit and wait for a while. “Lily?”

“Yeah?”

“ **Call me when you’re home**.”

Her fangs slipped off her lips as she smirked. “Okay, daddy.”

“Please, don’t call me that. I have actual children that call me that, you know this. Don’t make it dirty, I _beg_ you.”

The girl snorted, amusement clear on his face. “Sleep well, daddy,” she said, and winked.

When Alec had finished groaning, she was already gone.

* * *

4.

“Where do you exactly think you’re going?”

Elliott froze, already panicked. Lily grinned and turned round, facing him.

“We’re going to Venice. Barnabas Hale is having a party to celebrate the end of the war and we’re going,” she said, casual and cheerful as she always was when Raphael was pissed.

“This is the worst idea you’ve ever had,” Raphael replied, with a stern look and narrowed brows. “And you’ve been having bad ideas since the sixteenth century.”

Lily made a face. “I wasn’t even alive in the sixteenth century. And neither were you.”

“Exactly,” Raphael huffed. “Imagine the power that has.”

Lily smiled like he had just given her the best compliment of her life. “It’s going to be so much fun! Right Elliott?”

“I sure hope so,” said Elliot, “both my selkie fuckfriends are going to be there.”

“The two who don’t know about each other or the two who do?”

Elliott froze for a moment. “Oh damn. My _four_ selkie fuckfriends are _all_ going to be there.”

“I really didn’t want to hear this,” Raphael groaned.

“Well, bye fearless leader. Don’t be too boring while we’re gone,” Lily said, going for the door.

Raphael followed, his hands in his pockets and his eyes stormy as they always were. “What do you mean? Obviously **I’ll go with you**.”

Elliott and Lily both exchanged a lost look, then Elliot smiled from ear to ear. “Oh boss, you really can’t stay without us, can you?”

Raphael’s face worsened. “Do not _ever_ insinuate something like that again. I do only what every sensible leader should do. And I’m going to hate it while I do.”

“If you say so…” Lily said, getting out under the moonlight. He looked behind with a tentative look. Raphael and Elliott were following.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

5.

“Good afternoon, I need to make an appointment with the Head of the Institute,” he said, poking the head in the office.

“The head of the institute is very busy right now,” Clary said, glaring at him, “because her co-head has left her alone to go shopping with her best friend, leaving her all alone to do office work.”

“This co-head must be a total dick.”

“He is,” she said, a smile betraying her on her lips.

“But a gorgeous dick. A fascinating dick with awesome hair,” Jace commented proudly, finally coming all the way inside. 

“I don’t know, jury’s still out on that,” she smirked. 

“Your words can’t hurt me because I know you’re crazy with me already,” he declared, sitting on the desk and pucking out his lips to be kissed.

Clary chuckled and leaned in, giving him a peck on the lips. 

With an immensely satisfied expression after their kiss, he showed her something he was holding behind his back, that Clary hadn’t noticed before, too distracted by her boyfriend’s dumbassery.

“Ta daaa!” he said, with a huge grin.

Clary narrowed her brows in confusion as she took the comic from Jace’s hands in hers.

It was a _Wonder Woman_ comic, it looked vintage, yellow stains on the pages and a classic smell of old paper.

“Jace, what-”

“Simon insisted on going mundane shopping because he was in one of his moods, you know the one…”

Clary did. Sometimes Simon was hit by a bad case of _geek fever._

“We went in this shop full of small figures of giant men and half naked women with giant tits, and a ton of ugly shirts the way Simon likes, and comics too... and **this made me think of you**. So as the perfect boyfriend that I am, I bought it.”

“Oh,” Clary said, looking down at the comic in her hands. “Wonder Woman made you think of me?”

“Well,” Jace grinned, “it’s because you’re wonderful.”

Clary shook her head and smiled. “You’ve been trying this speech so many times, right?”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

“It’s beautiful. Thank you,” she said, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him in. “I thought about you today as well.”

But he didn’t get to answer _of course you thought about me, I’m just as wonderful,_ because she was kissing him slow and deep.

All was good in the world.

* * *

6.

He heard footsteps approaching and closed his hands in fists. “Get fucked, Eric.”

“Wow, fuck you too,” a voice said. 

It wasn’t Eric’s, though. He would have recognised that voice everywhere, before and after death, after one million memory losses, in this life and the previous one and the next one of he was going to have it. It was ingrained in his brain, carved in it with blood and fire. 

“Clary?” he asked, turning his head a little to see the girl coming. 

Clary was okay. Clary could stay. Clary could always stay, even if he was crying. 

“Oh, Simon,” she whispered, as she came closer and finally sat next to him on his bed. “Oh, Simon. I’m sorry. **I’m here**.”

He didn’t say anything, there was no need to. 

Of course Clary knew why he was feeling like that. Of course Clary remembered his mother’s birthday. Of course Clary remembered he and Rebecca always organised some surprise for her, surprise that his sister was now organising alone.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” he muttered, and he didn’t even try to keep his voice steady. With Clary he didn’t have to.

“Of course it isn’t. You don’t need her. Screw her, Simon! If I could I’d… I’d…”

“You’d what, Fray?” he asked, the smallest smile on his lips for the first time that day. “You’d scare her with your smurf size?”

She punched him lightly on his shoulder. “Yeah, maybe. Maybe I would.”

* * *

7.

As soon as they were out of the training room, Jace could tell something was off.

“Okay, enough of this,” he said. “What is it?”

Alec stopped walking and shot him an analysing look, one of those looks that always made Jace feel bare in front of him. “I don’t know, you tell me.”

“What is that supposed to mean? You’re the one who’s being weird.”

“You’ve been worse than usual today,” Alec said plainly.

“Well, fucking _ouch._ Am I not allowed to have bad training days? I know I’m usually fantastic but-”

“ **Did you sleep enough** tonight? Are you having nightmares again?”

Jace used to have a lot of nightmares, the first years he’s been with the Lightwoods. He’d tried to hide it at first, but as soon as he understood Alec didn’t care he started sneaking in his room to sleep with him from time to time. They never spoke when it happened, he just sneaked in, slept, and when Alec woke up the morning after he was already gone. Not a word shared between them.

Over the years, he’d needed it less and less. And when Clary popped up in his life, it officially stopped.

“Yes, _dad._ I slept tonight. This parent thing is really getting into you, is it?”

“Maybe,” Alec said, “but you’re stressed and it shows. You know I’m right.”

 _Of course you are. I’m an open book for you, I’ve always been. Since the very first day we met,_ Jace thought. What he said was, instead, “You’re talking nonsense. I am peachy.” 

Alec sighed and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Jace knew what it meant. It meant Alec was about to do something he really disliked. Usually it was eating something Izzy has cooked or talking about feelings.

There was no food in sight.

“Listen, this Head of the Institute thing,” he said, playing with the sleeve of his oversized sweater. “You don’t have to be stressed about that. You’re doing great, just as I thought you’d be. I’m proud.”

Jace froze still on the spot and looked at Alec like he’d grown a second head, then his lips curled in a honest smile, not the smile meant for the world, the proud grin he showed off like an armour. The kind of smile a younger sibling would smile when he just got approval from the eldest.

 _You’ve no idea how much I’m proud of you too,_ Jace thought.

“Everything I do is great, you should know it by now,” Jace said, not because he wanted to, but because that was what Alec needed right now. He didn’t want to indulge in sentimentalism, it would make things awkward for him.

“Fuck you,” Alec said, but he was smiling too.

* * *

8.

“Moloch demons are _the worst,”_ Isabelle grunted, coming in. “I hate them. Why aren’t they extinct yet?”

Simon smiled. “You said the exact same thing about Raveners yesterday.”

“Well, I mean, they’re demons,” Isabelle said. “They all are the worst and should be extinct.”

“That is exactly why shadowhunters exist, isn’t it?” Simon asked in amusement.

“Really? I thought the reason was the world lacked awesomeness so we have to bring balance with our amazing appearance and overall coolness.”

“You are spending too much time with Jace,” Simon said, wiping a strand of black hair off her forehead. She flushed at that. It was strange, Isabelle never flushed. Isabelle was proud and beautiful and fierce. Now she looked cute. It was a nice look on her, it suited her well.

“Angel,” she said, clearing her throat, “I am starving.”

Simon smiled a bright smile at that. “I am not. We had pizza today.”

“Simon Lewis Lovelace, you had _what?_ You seriously decided to order pizza the night I went hunting? Do you really want me to break up with you?”

“Wow, chill tiger,” he muttered, eyes wide. She was looking rather threatening now. This look suited her too. Maybe all looks suited her because she was just beautiful. “ **I saved you some**.”

Isabelle went still. It wasn’t the fact that Simon had eaten less pizza just for her - that too, to be honest - but the fact he had thought about doing this for her. They had been all together eating and laughing and he had thought _wait, my girlfriend is not here, she would probably want some._

Her eyes softened immediately. “Okay, fine. We’re not breaking up for now.”

* * *

9.

Rafael looked down at the Shadowhunter Codex like he would have looked at a greater demon: with fear, regret and blinding disgust. He sighed deeply, his eyes reading the same lines again, and again, and again. Why did the letters keep mixing up like that? Why did he have to read the same line three times for it to make sense?

“Rafe! Rafe!” he heard, and finally looked up with a miserable expression. “Uncle Jace gave me this, do you want to try-”

Max was finally watching him, his excited expression quickly turning in a disappointed one. “Oh. You’re still studying.”

He had something in his hands, a small tablet of some sorts, something that Rafael didn’t want to see because whatever it was he wasn’t going to play with it so it would have only made things worse.

“Yes,” he said bitterly. “I am still studying. I know I’m stupid, you don’t have to be a dick about it.”

Max blinked like he had just been slapped and Rafael couldn’t help but feel bad about it. It wasn’t Max’s fault if he was an idiot that read half as fast as normal people and couldn’t tell what was left and what was right to save his life. 

“Are the words mixing up on the page again? You should tell dad and bapak about it. They’ll know what’s up.”

Rafael groaned and rolled his eyes. “I already know what’s up. I am just an idiot.”

Max frowned. “Don’t be silly. You are one of the smartest people I know.”

Rafael did not comment. He knew it wasn’t true, but saying that would only make Max angrier.

Max looked back at what he had in his hands, it looked like some sort of video game uncle Simon was crazy about, that he had been so anxious to try just a moment before. He placed it on the kitchen counter. 

He had more important things to do now, the game could wait, his brother could not.

“Come on, let me sit with you. **I’ll help**. I’ll read out loud if you want, you’ll listen.”

* * *

10.

Alec sighed so deep he could as well deflate completely like a balloon. He covered his eyes with his hands, lying down in bed, frozen still. He listened to his breaths, trying to keep them steady. He knew he had to tell Jace he couldn’t do this, but he didn’t want to let his brother down. He was conflicted.

He heard the door open softly but he didn’t have to look to know who just came in.

“Great darling, you’re already here, listen-” Magnus stopped talking as soon as he saw the condition he was in. 

“Alec,” he said, his voice light and soft like a caress on the cheek. “My love, what happened?”

“I have a double shift tomorrow,” Alec said, his hands still on his face.

“What?” Magnus asked, his voice already rising. “No, you’re not. You had a double shift today too, and you have an Alliance meeting tonight, you need to sleep. You are _not_ working double shift tomorrow, **not on my watch** , I don’t care what Trace says.”

“Magnus, they need-”

 _“No,_ Alec, I am _not_ having this conversation. I don’t care what they need. You need to _sleep_ before you go to work. This is not office work, this is _demon hunting_ , and I won’t send you on the battlefield dead on your feet. Demons _kill_ people, and I don’t… I can’t…”

Magnus’ voice broke and Alec was up on his feet in no time. “Hey, hey, hey. Okay, I got it,” he said, cupping Magnus’ face with his hands. “No double shift tomorrow. Only sleep.”

Magnus’ breaths calmed down and he nodded. “Seriously, if you don’t speak up for yourself I will. I won’t allow-”

“Yes, yes, yes, I know. I’ll tell him. I promise.”

Magnus sighed in relief and his shoulders relaxed slightly. He laced his arms around Alec’s waist and pulled him closer. “I’m sorry. I know it looks like I’m being overbearing.”

Alec shook his head. “You’re right. There’s no point in being reckless, and I won’t be much help if I’m too sleep deprived to function. The stamina rune can’t be the only thing that keeps me going. As you said, this is not office work, this is demon hunting. it would be unwise.”

Magnus blinked in shock. He clearly wasn’t expecting Alec to acknowledge he was right. “Oh, well then. Great.”

“Why don’t you clear your schedule tomorrow as well? We’ll spend the morning together.”

He leaned down, now a relaxed smile on his lips. “I like the sound of that,” he said, and with that he kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I just headcanoned Rafe to be dyslexic.
> 
> And with that we're done, fam. I want to thank @magnus-the-maqnificent on Tumblr (TheFoolsKnight here on AO3) for the great idea of this challenge. I had so much fun and writing every day is always a good exercise. So thanks!
> 
> And obviously I want to thank everyone who followed this series, who read my works, left a comment, gave a kudo. I love you all and you made the last week better, I am having difficult times and your presence helped me.
> 
> I ordered tlbotw and it will probably arrive in nine days and I can’t wait to read the book. I hope you all are going to like it and are all going to have a nice experience with it. I also hope these stories made you smile at least half the times your comments made me smile. That would be a great achievement.
> 
> Take care, enjoy your book, and ave atque vale, everyone ❤️❤️


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